The Massachusetts Women’s Basketball snapped their nine-game losing streak after beating their in-state rival UMass Lowell 64-52 on Sunday afternoon.

“We were desperate for a win,” said head coach Mike Leflar. “It did not matter who our opponent was today. It was great to see us fight and come out rewarded for the fight.”

It was all Minutewomen throughout the entire game as they won all four quarters and only trailed for a small portion of the game. Freshman Lilly Taulelei got the start in Sunday’s game, filling in for injured forward Bre Bellamy. 

Taulelei started the game strong with four points in the first quarter. After a 6-6 tie, the Minutewomen outscored the River Hawks 8-5 to enter the second quarter with a three-point lead.

Massachusetts took control of the game in the second quarter. After a timeout by the Minutewomen, they went on a 9-2 run and extended their lead to 12 points. Additionally, they held the River Hawks to a five-minute scoring drought during the run. At halftime, the Minutewomen led the River Hawks 30-24.

“Our transition defense was much better,” said Leflar. “We held Lowell to four transition points and that was big for us. We can’t beat ourselves, by giving easy points in transition.”

The second half saw a big performance from guard Kristin Williams. The junior scored 13 points in the second half, with eight of those points coming in the fourth quarter. In total, Williams tied her career-high in points with 19 and shot 9-16 from the field. 

Guard Dallas Pierce was another player who had a good second half. Pierce accounted for 10 of the 21 bench points the Minutewomen had on Sunday. Pierce shot 4-5 from the field, 2-2 from three and set a new career-high of points.

Sunday’s game was the first time in a long time the Minutewomen looked dominant in all phases of the game. The Minutewomen won the turnover battle 14 to 15 and scored 18 points off those 14 turnovers. They also outrebounded the River Hawks 42 to 32, with guard Stefanie Kulesza leading Massachusetts in rebounds with 14. 

But, where UMass dominated the most was the paint. The Minutewomen scored a season-high 48 points in the paint against the River Hawks. UMass had the size advantage over Lowell, and used that to their advantage, bullying them in the paint.  

“It’s really good to come home and finally get a win,” said Kulesza. “We faced a lot of adversity [on the road], so it’s a good feeling to come home after a while and win.”

While Bellamy was out for Sunday’s game, guard Tori Hyduke returned after not playing against Boston College and guard Alexsia Rose made her season debut. Rose was wearing a knee brace on her left leg but was still able to score five points in 15 minutes of work. 

For the River Hawks, guard Ciro Worley led them in scoring with 12 points coming off the bench. UMass Lowell’s best player, Abbey Lindsey, had 10 points, shot 4-11 from the field and 2-6 from three.

The Minutewomen improved to 2-9 and have 10 days to rest up until their next game against Albany on Dec. 20. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.